Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. There are many different teachers and types of learning in the novel.

• Which teachers are the most effective, and what strategy do they use to teach? (topic sentence)
• Describe two characters who are effective teachers in the novel and explain what strategies they use to teach about the environment.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain why more learning is acquired outside of the classroom than in the classroom in the novel.

2. The central story of Scat concerns the disappearance of Mrs. Starch and the conflict in the Black Vine Swamp. The novel also tells the story of Nick’s father’s return from the Iraq War.

• How are the two plotlines related thematically, and how is the Iraq War connected to the Florida Everglades? (topic sentence)
• Describe Nick’s reaction to his father’s return from war, how he copes with his father’s return, and how his father’s actions help him to rescue the panther cub.